


The one where Steve makes a pass and Bucky turns him down

by chicklette



Series: Popcorn Bucket [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Ficlet, Fluff, M/M, Modern Setting, POV Steve Rogers, Shrunkyclunks, blink and you miss it D/s undertones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-09
Updated: 2017-11-09
Packaged: 2019-01-31 05:57:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12675780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chicklette/pseuds/chicklette
Summary: SHIELD Agent Barnes has been assigned to help Cap assimilate to the modern world.





	The one where Steve makes a pass and Bucky turns him down

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to tumblr as a ficlet and way to avoid working on my actual, outlined wip. Also I'm in love with shrunkyclunks this week. Unbeta'd, feel free to point out errors.

_Here goes_ , Steve thinks, then closes his eyes and leans.

“Whoa!  Pal, whoa.”  Bucky dances back a step and Steve opens his eyes. His mouth’s caught half-way to a pucker and oh, oh God, could he be more embarrassed?  Being stood up by Sally Lindstrom in ‘36 wasn’t as bad as this.

“Sorry,” Steve says.  “Sorry.  Sorry, I-“

“Hey,” Bucky says.  “Look.  It’s not – you-you’re fucking gorgeous.”

Steve’s deadpan look is all the warning Bucky gets before Steve opens his mouth.

“Really?  ‘It’s not you, it’s me?’ It was a lousy excuse then, and it still is now.  It’s okay,” Steve says.  He ducks his head and rubs the back of his neck, the long line of his triceps on display.  Then he straightens and looks Bucky in the eye before offering a weak grin. “Thanks for trying to let me down easy.”

 

“Whoa,” Bucky says, because that is – he is so wrong.  “Not trying to let you down easy, pal, believe me.”

Bucky turns and walks to the sofa, sit down and pats the seat next to him.  

Studying him, Steve considers, then moves toward the sofa, keeping a most of a cushion between the two of them.  

“Look,” Bucky says, his voice soft as he tucks a stray lock of hair behind his ear.  “In your when, being gay, that was a problem.  From what I read, you could get arrested for it, right?”

Steve nods, folding and unfolding his hands in his lap.  “Yeah and I’m not gay –“

“Yeah, bi, I figured. It’s different now.  A lot different.”  When Steve flicks his eyes toward Bucky’s all he sees is that soft gray-blue, and how careful Bucky’s being with Steve’s precious little feelings.  

He doesn’t want to stare – he’s bisexual, he’s not a creep.  

“All I’m saying,” Bucky says, “is everything is different now.  All of a sudden you’re allowed to want what you want, and everyone’s looking at you like you’re something to eat and this whole world is a buffet.  And then you find out I’m gay, and it’s natural, you know?  To want to try things out with someone you already trust.  And I’m flattered, believe me.”  Bucky’s mouth twists into a wry smile he as rolls his eyes, and none of it is making Steve feel any less like an ass.  Not any less like that 95-pound kid that all the girls tried to avoid.

“Buck,” Steve says, voice soft.  “You don’t have to do this.  It’s okay that you’re not into me.  You don’t have to let me down easy.”  Steve can feel the embarrassment crawling down his neck, flushing bright red.

Bucky stares at him, mouth open. “Buddy, if I thought you were into me, I would bang you into next week and still not get enough.”

Steve’s mouth drops open as his mind provides visuals – Steve on his back with Bucky over him. Steve bend over the coffee table, the kitchen table, the kitchen counter, Bucky with his hand fisted into Steve’s hair, pulling his head up and back as he fucks into Steve hard and fast.  

Definitely not helping the blush situation.

“Point is,” Bucky continues, “you’re gonna get out there and you’re gonna meet someone you really like. You know,” Bucky says, shrugging. “You’re gonna meet someone who gives you butterflies and who makes you smile every time you think about ‘em. That’s who you should be doing stuff like this with.  Not some SHIELD agent who’s been living in your back pocket tryin’ to introduce you to the new century.  You deserve that, Steve.”  

Steve’s breath catches. Bucky breaks eye contact and looks down at his hands, shoulders slumped in a way that makes Steve want to reach out and put his arm around them.

“Oh,” Steve says, as all the things Bucky’s said start adding up in his mind.  “Oh.”  He turns to look at Bucky, notices the way his hair’s hanging down, laying across his cheek, eyes focused on the carpet.  

“There, uhm, there actually is someone,” Steve says.  

He watches as Bucky swallows, a smile plastered onto his face before he even turns to look at Steve.

“Yeah?  That’s great, Steve.  Really great.  He’s a lucky guy. You tell him I said that.

“About that,” Steve says. “Maybe you can give me some advice?”

Bucky wipes his hands on his knees before getting up and going to the kitchen.  The smile is still plastered on his face, so fierce that it hurts Steve a little to see it. Bucky wears his sincerity like armor and now it’s like he’s naked, vulnerable.  Steve hates it.  

A moment later, Bucky comes back with a glass of water and busies himself drinking it.

“It’s just,” Steve says, and then stands to pace.  “It’s – I mean, he’s  - every time I look at him, I just want to grab my sketch pad, get him on paper, you know?  And when he smiles at me, it’s like,” and Steve swallows because he knows he has to get this out, but he’s never been so honest before.  It’s almost enough to make him laugh – where the hell is Captain America’s bravery now?

“When he smiles at me, I feel like maybe – like maybe there’s a reason they found me in all that ice, you know?  Maybe the reason’s so I can be here now.  With him.” Steve shrugs.  Bucky still won’t look at him, and for the first time, Steve wonders if maybe he’s read this whole thing all wrong.

“Buck?” Steve asks, and Bucky finally meets his eye, and he just looks miserable.

Giving Steve a soft smile, Bucky shrugs.  “I’m real happy for you, man.  I should,” he says, looking around Steve’s apartment.  “I gotta go.  I’ll, uhm….”   His words trail off and Steve crosses the room to get to him.

“Buck,” he says, and reaches out for Bucky’s hand.  “You gotta tell me if I got this wrong, Buck,” Steve says. He brings his hand up to brush that lock of hair back behind Bucky’s ear, before thumbing along Bucky’s cheekbone. “This drives me crazy,” Steve says, stroking his thumb along Bucky’s lip.

Bucky stares at him like he’s crazy.  “What?” he asks, sounding dazed.

“The way your lip curls, right here,” Steve says, and leans forward, slow and easy, and kisses the corner of Bucky’s mouth.  “I must have drawn that a hundred times,” Steve says.  “Still can’t get it right.”

“Steve,” Bucky says, eyes wide.  “Steve.”

It’s all the warning he gets before Bucky fists Steve’s shirt into both hands and drags him down for a kiss.  It’s lips and tongues and clacking teeth, with Bucky pulling him close, close, slotting a leg between his thighs.  

He’s dizzy by the time they break for air. Somehow he’s been pushed up back against the wall, and Bucky’s got both of Steve’s wrists wrapped up with one hand while his other slides up under Steve’s shirt.

The grin Bucky gives him is feral, but his eyes are the happiest that Steve’s ever seen them.  “I hope to God,” Bucky says, before leaning in to bite at Steve’s bottom lip.  “I hope to God you don’t have plans for the next few days.”

Steve grins and arches into Bucky.  “Wouldn’t you know?  My dance card just got lost.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr as chicklette.


End file.
